Cell C trying to fool consumers?
Cell C recently announced that it has signed a R2.9bn deal with the Chinese telecom equipment provider ZTE Corporation, something which Cell C CEO Lars P. Reichelt hailed as the operator’s “first big step towards transforming Cell C into a possibilities provider”.
This development came after Cell C’s announcement that it will be spending over R5bn on a 4G network in 2010. Cell C added that the second vendor for the remaining part of the nation-wide rollout will be announced shortly.
“Few would have predicted that Cell C would ever lead the industry as far as network infrastructure is concerned but it is a fact that Cell C will be the first South African operator to roll out HSPA+ technologies incorporating download speeds of up to 21Mbit/s – three times faster than anything currently available,” said Reichelt.
“An important factor in the decision to appoint ZTE is its ability to offer 4G services using Cell C’s 900MHz frequency band which offers wider and deeper coverage than existing 2100 MHz networks,” said Cell C. ”We can assure South Africans that world-class, effective and affordable wireless connectivity is on its way.”
Questionable statements
Competition is always welcome and it’s encouraging to see Cell C finally taking the leap and swimming with the big fish but there are one or two dubious claims that are rightfully raising eyebrows.
The first issue, which has been highlighted by industry players, is Cell C’s claim to ‘offer 4G services’ while the company only mentioned its planned HSPA+ offering. HSPA+, aka Evolved High-Speed Packet Access, is in fact a ‘3.75G’ service, and not 4G.
Cell C may refer to the potential 4G capabilities of its planned network and Long Term Evolution (LTE) services in future, but the first LTE release is not theoretically a 4G service, it is a 3.9G (or pre-4G) technology.
When Cell C was asked for comment on their declaration of launching a 4G service they said they could currently not discuss the matter. They also refused to comment on whether they are actually rolling out a 4G network, something which is unlikely as there are still unresolved standards issues which need to be ironed out.
Will Cell C really be first?
Cell C boldly states that “it is a fact that Cell C will be the first South African operator to roll out HSPA+ technologies incorporating download speeds of up to 21Mbit/s”. This claim remains unsubstantiated, and when Cell C was asked what they based this claim on they said they cannot currently comment on the issue. In fact, Cell C refused to substantiate or elaborate on any of the claims they made regarding their 4G network rollout and HSPA+ service plans.
Vodacom recently announced that they have switched on their first HSPA+ site in Midrand where they are now testing 21 Mbps HSPA+ services. Vodacom CEO Pieter Uys said that this is the ‘first active HSPA+ network in Africa’, and while this announcement is partly a publicity stunt Vodacom added that they will be extending 21 Mbps HSPA+ coverage to areas like the World Cup stadiums and airports “where it makes sense”.
Cell C on the other hand has yet to announce a ‘second vendor that will carry out the remaining part of the nation-wide rollout’ and, unlike competitors Vodacom and MTN, they don’t not have any existing broadband network infrastructure.
Another question hanging over Cell C’s planned national 21 Mbps HSPA+ rollout is how the company will acquire enough transmission capacity to support 21 Mbps speeds. Vodacom and MTN have often said that their high speed broadband rollouts have been held back by a shortage of transmission capacity, and Cell C has not indicated how it plans to solve this problem.
Both Vodacom and MTN are rolling out their own fibre networks – partly aimed at addressing transmission problems – but Cell C has no fibre network and is also very far behind its two cellular competitors regarding existing transmission capacity.
Trying to fool customers?
So while Cell C is making claims that they will be the first operator to roll out HSPA+ technologies, incorporating download speeds of up to 21Mbit/s, consumers should view such statements with the utmost caution. Unless the Cell C CEO has direct insight into the strategic planning of Vodacom, MTN and Telkom, it is not clear how he can make such claims.
It is also unclear why Cell C had a desire to make these claims in the first place, but it may be a ploy to stop their high end subscribers from migrating to Vodacom and MTN to enjoy the advantages of high speed HSPA access. Many high end mobile handsets are HSPA capable and loaded with bandwidth hungry applications, making Cell C’s EDGE network inadequate for many of these users.
Cell C’s planned HSPA+ network and services are a welcome addition to the local broadband arena but the company’s recent claims may turn out to be as ‘insightful’ as some of their previous statements like “the sweet spot for Internet usage is around 120 kbps” and “there is no good business case for investing in a 3G/HSDPA network”.
Do you think Cell C is trying to fool consumers?
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